Track: Smart Mobility and Smart Cities

Abstract

This paper aims to consolidate the state of the development and evolution of smart cities in Latin America and their contribution to enhancing sustainability following a scoping review. To accomplish that, the journal articles from four known databases were captured and analyzed to map the conversations about the topic.

Latin America has unique characteristics, with high rates of population growth intensified with urban migrations and 81.2% of their residents living in urban areas, with unplanned urbanization spread in slums, usually located in mountainous areas, and highly stratified, making it one of the biggest challenges for their effects on the environment and people. The common topics identified, were mapped under 4 categories:  People & Society, Technology & Innovation, Environment & SDGs, and Governance & Infrastructure. The findings highlighted the use of technology to support a smart operation on cities, from governance to infrastructure and services for the citizens, and many challenges related to data literacy and adoption. Even though the concept of smart cities is not new, in the last years it had an important growth in Latin America, leveraged by Covid-19 pandemic, facilitating the adoption of citizens, academia, public and private sectors to improve communications and services.